Cooking from Ottolenghi's new vegetarian book Plenty

[The Dairy Queen]

This is the thread for those cooking from Yotam Ottolenghi's new vegetarian book Plenty.

Link to previous discussion (initiated by Jen Kalb, thank you!) about the recent release of the book:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/703848?tag=post-box-content;5571550#5571550

Link (provided by greedygirl, thank you!) of sample recipes in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/17/yotam-ottolenghi-plenty-recipes-extract

Link to Candy's thread on Ottolenghi's eponymous first book:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/599767?tag=post-box-content;4458238#4458238

Link to Ottolenghi COTM thread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/641730?tag=main_body;morph

I will be out of commission cooking-wise for several days, so, I won't be able to join in the cooking at first, but I love this book--just reading from it-- and can't wait until produce season hits so I can start really playing with it. (Seems like our beatiful produce might be somewhat delayed: we just got more snow!. Mother Nature is a heart-breaker).

Here are some recipe reports from oakjoan and mebby buried in Jen Kalb's thread:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/703848?tag=highlight-5584432;post-content-5584432#5584432

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7038...

Happy cooking!

~TDQ

[serah]

I should really cook more from this book; thanks for the headsup on your favourite dishes people!

I have cooked the gunpowder tofu and I loved, loved, loved it! However I agree with whoever said you can miss out the cornflour step; seems a bit pointless.

I also love the two potato vindaloo - it tastes even better as leftovers, as most curries do.

[smtucker]

My copy arrived today! I can't wait to go through this thread with my post-it notes nearby to mark the recipes that you all have enjoyed, and the ones I want to try.

Once again, the photos are just beautiful and entice the reader to create! [the cover is unusual. Is this a wipeable plastic?]

[oakjoan]

I now have Plenty in all its splendor.

Tonight for guests, I made the Fried Leeks with the sauteed peppers in vinegar and spices (p. 42). Yet another fab recipe. I'm glad the photo showed that the leeks (after frying) weren't complete coated by the crumbs. After I made the recipe, I went back to look at it for purposes of posting here. I noticed that I missed something which made my leeks even less coated than those in the photo.

I just rolled them in the crumbs and didn't see the egg that was to be mixed in to make the coating stick. Duh. Well, although they weren't completely coated, they were absolutely delicious. I'll definitely make these again.

I served the leeks with some home-made sauteed chicken breast and thigh nuggets (with lemon to squeeze over them) and the Quinoa and grilled sourdough salad (p. 128).

The salad was also a big hit. It's just a bunch of herbs and tomatoes and cukes chopped and mixed with cooked quinoa and toasted bread. I used Acme Levain bread, which is wonderful and worked very well in the recipe. The dressing is red wine vinegar and garlic.

The other day, I gave the original cookbook to a friend to look at. She pleaded with me to lend it to her and I did. I've turned into a whimpering baby and have to smack myself in the head to stop me from calling her and asking for it back.

I'm trying to concentrate on Plenty....it's partially working.

[oakjoan]

Tonight I made the Cabbage and Kohlrabi Salad (p. 99) When I first put it together I thought it was going to be too strong for my taste. After I let it stand for an hour or two, however, it turned out to be really good. Tangy and crunchy with a strong dill flavor.

It went well with some chicken nuggets I made from a breast and thighs. I mixed panko crumbs with garlic powder, salt, pepper and lots of my homemade curry powder and then dredged the nuggets in that.

Those two dishes alone were our dinner. Very satisfying.

I don't think I'd ever made anything with kohlrabi. Oh yes, and I subbed red cabbage and a small amount of Napa cabbage I had leftover from something else. I also didn't have any alfalfa sprouts and so used some chopped Italian parsley.

Very delicious.

[buttertart]

You didn't have alfalfa sprouts and there you are in the world capital of their use? Shocking! ;-)

[oakjoan]

Ah, the shame of it all!

[buttertart]

I'm still smarting from the glancing ref to the Bowl you snuck in...

[oakjoan]

Sorry, didn't mean to....wait for it....BOWL you over.

I'm still smarting from an email filled with photos of Nice and Marseilles sent by friends who are there. Did I say "friends"?

[buttertart]

Let me just right myself from the Bowled over position here...I "had" to hide my s-i-l on Facebook because she was on an extended trip in England and I was fiendishly jealous so I know exactly what you mean.

[liverwurstontoast]

Made the eggplant, mango, and soba noodle salad last night and was utterly impressed. Even my husband, who despises eggplant, devoured the last bits of eggplant from the bowl. I was initially put off by the long list of ingredients but found that it came together quickly. One minor change to the recipe - I didn't let it sit for the suggested hour or two. A definite repeat.

[oakjoan]

Here I am, el cheapo (I guess it should be La Cheapa) still cooking from the free booklet sent to my by greedy girl. Tonight I made Multi-vegetable Paella. WOWIE! ZOWIE! This is just fabulous. It's a bit of work since there are 19 ingredients and I actually steamed my artichokes instead of purchasing them in a jar.

The onions, red and yellow peppers and fennel slices are fried together with garlic. Bay leaves, smoked paprika, turmeric and cayenne are added along with paella rice (I only had arborio and it turned out to work beautifully). Then dry sherry and saffron are added and the whole mixture is boiled down. Veg broth (I used that wonderful veg bouillon powder but I can't ever remember the name and am too lazy to get up and go look) is added along with salt to taste. The heat is turned waaay down and the whole dish is simmered until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. The pan is left uncovered.

Favas (taken out of their pods) are put into a bowl with some boiling water and left to cook for a minute. The water is poured off and the favas left to cool, then the skin is slipped off.

Before serving chopped tomatoes and the favas are added and the pan is covered tightly and left to rest for 10 minutes. Uncover and scatter chopped Kalamata olives and parsley and serve with lemon wedges.

I can't tell you how much we both loved this dish. I just made a small salad to go along and together we polished off the whole pan. Just delicious.

[greedygirl]

I loved this as well. And was it Marigold veg bouillon that you used?

[mirage]

I have to glom on: This is a great dish. I brought it to a potluck where it was very well received. Love, love, love.

[The Dairy Queen]

Okay NOW this book is showing on EYB as having been indexed.

~TDQ

[greedygirl]

I just came across this article in a British newspaper. They're talking about us!

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifesty...

[buttertart]

Too funny!

[The Dairy Queen]

Heh! Well, if they are talking about us, they've only quoted one of us accurately. "The race is on" http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/703848?tag=highlight-5578385;post-content-5578385#5578385

And "let's see who gets it first" (which is not quite the same as their quote, "Let's see who gets to it first") http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/703848?tag=highlight-5572288;post-content-5572288#5572288

And I don't know if this is the "on impulse" quote. It's not accurately quoted: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7038...

But, still, fun!

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Hey oop there lassie, above here roxlet says "his cracked pepper comes from a jar"...maybe that's the ticket to the tofu!

[The Dairy Queen]

Hmmm...what do you think "from a jar" means?

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Maybe like the "steakhouse cracked pepper" stuff my mother-in-law has had in her cupboard for rather a long while?

[pitu]

Curious to know results from anyone who tries it w green peppercorns that come in liquid in a jar...

[Caitlin McGrath]

I've not gone back to the thread, but who is it that's in Italy?

[The Dairy Queen]

Don't know. Will have to check. Gio?

~TDQ

[Caitlin McGrath]

The writer was talking about people's actual locations (CA - a couple of posters; Cairo - roxlet), so because I don't recall any of us chattering on that thread actually being in Italy, I'm thinking it might be an error (or my memory is faulty, which in general is not unlikely!).

[The Dairy Queen]

I don't think your memory was faulty, but given she tweaked two out of the three quotes she lifted from the thread, I was joking that she took poetic license with Gio. ;-).

~TDQ

[Caitlin McGrath]

My hunch is that she was working fast and didn't bother rechecking the quotes or info she gleaned (after no doubt googling Plenty and finding us).

[The Dairy Queen]

Or, she never figure she'd be busted and took a little creative license, at least with the quotes. It's not that hard to cut and paste. Her changes were pretty subtle. I could easily see how she could be confused/misremembering about the Italy thing, somehow, though, so you're probably spot on there.

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

Maybe this person lives in Italy now? http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7038...

~TDQ

[buttertart]

roxlet spent some time there on her way home, no?

[The Dairy Queen]

It seems unfair to count roxlet as BOTH Cairo and Italy, but she does say in her profile that she wishes she could live in Italy. :). Me too, by the way.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

I'll take London myself. Was watching an old Lindsay Anderson the other night and thinking I'd really love to live there. Such thinking has led eventually in the past to living in Berkeley, CA and NYC, so who knows! A girl can dream.

[Caitlin McGrath]

Okay, I'd bet the reporter's fast reading counted her as in both places.

[buttertart]

Yup, I bet.

[greedygirl]

And I was there for a week (Italy)!

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, I'll bet that was it!

~TDQ

[Caitlin McGrath]

Wasn't GG *just* in Italy, though? Everything on that thread that's actually about getting one's hands on the book is from earlier, so I doubt that was it, actually.

Interesting to know that Plenty is no. 6 on Amazon UK's ranking, though. He's a rock star. I mean, look at the sort of recipes that are in the book. Now think of the cookbooks that actually sell tons in the US (I'm not counting MTAOFC following Julie and Julia): Occasionally Martha Stewart, but mostly what lands on the NY Times list is Hungry Girl. Rachael Ray. Etc.

[The Dairy Queen]

You're right. I just noticed that the article is dated early June.

And, yes, isn't that cool, that's Ottolenghi is a rockstar in the UK?

I was just reading somewhere (can't remember where...) that the Hungry Girl gal just landed or was being considered for something (maybe it was for a show on the Cooking Channel????) that shocked me. I mean, even when I was rabidly following Weight Watchers I wouldn't be caught dead cooking anything from Hungry Girl. It's all Sandra Lee-esque brand-name, processed, packaged stuff, only the "diet" version. I was just appalled when her first book came out.

EDIT; yes, that's it. HG is going to have a show on the Cooking Channel. http://www.hungry-girl.com/news/newsd...

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Let's just hope it's not on the History Channel, that WOULD signal the end of civilization! (Yep, Cooking Channel. There goes the neighborhood.)

[The Dairy Queen]

I really sincerely hope she's got some good tips on how to lighten up recipes without relying on artificial foods. It's strange how during this whole "real food" renaissance and "back to basics" movement someone like HG can get a foot in.

~TDQ

[The Dairy Queen]

P.S. I sent my husband a link to the story. He's excited to be living in LA now! Much better weather.

~TDQ

[Gio]

If her show has recipes with ingredients like these: "imitation crabmeat and reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated cheese" I will not be watching. J/S

http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewd...

[The Dairy Queen]

I know, it kind of hurts your heart a little, doesn't it? I'm not trying to be a total food snob, because I ate a lot of nonfat dairy when I was on WW, too, but I tried to keep it to a minimum,or choose around those kinds of dishes. But, if your dish calls for 10 imitation foods, is it really food? Aren't you just better off having a big bowl of quinoa and grilled veggies or something? That's the kind of stuff I wish she'd teach people. There are people out there--for real-- who really need help in making better food choices when they are trying to lose weight.

~TDQ

[Gio]

I don't think using fresh, unadulterated ingredients of whatever type is food snobbery, but I guess that's been discussed to near death on these boards already. All I can say is Thank Goodness for Yotam Ottolenghi. Long may he dream up recipes.

[The Dairy Queen]

Hear, hear!

~TDQ

[Gio]

Well why not? We've been talking about this book since before it was published... was it you GG who clued us in? I've been reading the recipes in the Guardian for a couple of years now. The interview even mentions that Ottolenghi, "advises his latest devotee “not to be put off” by the eight chillis in his black pepper tofu recipe." So the pepper amount Is right...
Thanks for posting the link GG!

[The Dairy Queen]

There are chile peppers AND the black peppercorn. And indeed he does warn you that it's a lot of pepper, and you can reduce the amount if you want, but that you'd be missing the point if you did.

~TDQ

[roxlet]

Well, maybe the jarred ground black pepper is the answer. That stuff tends to sit around a bit, and is bound to be less pungent than freshly ground. I might have mentioned something about trying to find ingredients in Italy when I was there in June. Oil cured olives, I think. It's so funny that the British press picked up on our obsession!

[The Dairy Queen]

I know! Isn't it funny they found us chatting away here? And good thing for us, GG found them chatting away about us!

I hate to be dense, but what do you mean about jarred ground black pepper? Do you mean he wasn't crushing the peppercorns in a mortar and pestle but using Schilling or something along those lines?

~TDQ

[greedygirl]

My view is that he used 5T of peppercorns, which he then ground. But why don't you ask on his blog? He normally goes on there and answers questions.

[The Dairy Queen]

Oh, that's interesting. Because I ground the peppercorns and measured 5 TBSP of that. Which would be a lot more than the way you're describing it... Maybe that's the answer!

~TDQ

[roxlet]

I saw a video of him on Amazon (I think) making one of his dishes, and he used jarred ground black pepper, like the kind you might get in a supermarket -- McCormick's brand springs to mind. I remember writing about how surprised I was to see this -- I mean, when do you see chefs do anything other than grinding their own peppercorns?

[The Dairy Queen]

I'm very conflicted because that's probably a lot more pepper than I used. However, as you say, it's a lot less potent.

But, most of all, it's so bizarre that he didn't grind his own!

~TDQ

[roxlet]

Here is my post from that other thread:

I was just on the AmazonUK web site, and they have a brief video of Ottolenghi demonstrating a very yummy looking and simple eggplant dish. Definitely want to try this, but the one thing that surprised me was that his cracked pepper came from a jar! Anyway, I think it's worth taking a look!

[buttertart]

A jar with a label on it?

[The Dairy Queen]

Yep, it was pepper from a jar. It was for some aubergine with yogurt/buttermilk sauce with pomegranate seeds. Now I want to make that, too!

~TDQ

[jen kalb]

maybe when someone has done the setup for them and they are working fast and demonstrating they use these products.

tho all the huge bottles of ground and cracked peppercorns we see in Costco must go into some chef's kitcnen. If its vacuum packed and they go through a lot of it very quickly it might be acceptable.

[mebby]

Hysterical -- and even funnier that we're what passes for a legitimate news source these days.

[Gio]

Yes... but we're the only obsessives with a running conversation...

[oakjoan]

I made the stuffed onions from the pamphlet a couple of nights ago. Don't know the page number in the book.

It looked great and smelled fantastic while it was baking, but the end product was just okay. It may have been the bread crumbs I used. Started out with some leftover Levain from Acme breads (one of the great bakeries), but didn't have enough and so used panko crumbs for the rest.

It looks so pro but is quite easy to do. You cut onion in half, take out the root end and then carefully separate the onion "leaves". You simmer them in stock until they're malleable, then take them apart.

You make a mixture of bread crumbs, feta, garlic, and grated tomatoes. Stuff the onions with it and close them by squeezing them so that the ends meet. They are baked in the oven in a bit of broth until browned on top.

They smelled so heavenly while they were baking that we nearly went nuts and grabbed them before they were done.

The stuffing was just not that interesting and they tasted good, but not great. This is one of the only Ottolenghi recipes I haven't thought was ab fab.

Anybody else try them? I'd love to hear about it.

[oakjoan]

Now I've made the Green Pancakes with Lime Butter. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. We had guests for dinner last night and I made a weird dinner -

Green pancakes with lime butter, eggplant and onion pakoras, and carrot soup.

For dessert we had homemade frozen low-fat yoghurt with fresh sliced peaches and nectarines. Mmmmmmmmmm.

As usual I can't give the page number in Plenty since I'm using the pamphlet.

[buttertart]

Weird is good, if it's that kind of weird!

[rln]

Oakjoan - call me lazy chowhounder here...! I only recently got my Plenty cookbook, and hope to try some recipes for a small dinner party this weekend. I notice you've tried a lot and over different seasons. I live in San Francisco (I think you're in N Cal, right?) Anyway, just wondering if you have FAVORITEs of this season? I hate trying new things on friends but I am doing it! I'm going to may the puy lentils galletes, I think. Any other tips are so welcomed!

[rln]

Woops! I meant to add would love to hear anyone's favorites! I scoped out oakjoan b/c of locality and thinking we'd have the same "in season" ingredients! I had my husband mark all the recipes he wanted to suggest, but sadly, many are summer produce...!

[oakjoan]

Hi, rin:

I'm in Oakland. Glad to hear you're getting inspired by Plenty.

I really like the puy lentil gallettes. They are spectacularly good, look great, and I've made them several times. I just buy those pre-cut puff pastry shells. They work very well.

I also love the Very Full Tart. I've also made that a lot. I sometimes buy the pie crust if I'm in a hurry, but the short crust recipe is very forgiving. It falls apart a lot and can be patched back together without turning tough. The vegs are eggplant, zukes, peppers, parsnip, tomatoes, etc.

The rattatoiulle (sp"?) is something that's usually very ordinary. Theirs is great.

I also love the quinoa salad and another with sliced radishes. I think it's a bread salad. I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

If I think of some others, I'll post.

Good luck!

[rln]

Thank you, oakjoan!

[buttertart]

When you have good sweet corn the fresh corn polenta with eggplant is very good too.

[roxlet]

Yes, and now I am dreaming of summer...

[buttertart]

Ah yes...

[oakjoan]

Thanks for reminding me of this buttertart. That fresh corn polenta topped with the eggplant sauce is FANTASTIC.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the broccolini and sweet sesame salad. Wowie zowie it's good!

[relizabeth]

Inspired by his addition of prunes in stocks, I made a quick meal of by braising potatoes, cavolo nero, chick peas, garlic, fennel seed, chili flakes, prunes and olive oil. It is a new standard in our house.

[greedygirl]

I made the marinated mozzarella with tomato and it was a massive hit. It's very easy - you mix toasted, ground fennel seeds with EVOO, cold-pressed rapeseed oil, salt, pepper, lemon zest and a goodly amount of basil and oregano. Smear over your buffalo mozzarella and leave to marinate for half an hour or so (I left mine for quite a bit longer). Serve with tomatoes.

This was delicious, but you do need very good ingredients, as he says. I had fantastic buffalo mozzarella brought back from Campania (in my suitcase because of all the liquid they keep it in - I was so worried it was going to burst or be squished to death!). I also used ripe, small vine tomatoes, simply cut in half. With homemade sourdough, this made a lovely antipasto.

[roxlet]

Sounds delicious -- like the perfect summer starter.

[junglekitte]

Made his hummus recipe hoping it would be a winner.......fail! :( Why is it so difficult to find a perfect hummus recipe? I had to add a ton more lemon juice to make it more to my taste but it still wasn't exactly how I like it in the best Middle Eastern restaurants.

I also made his spicy Moroccan carrot recipe. Delicious!

[classylady]

I have read so much about the book. I am interested to purchase it if it available in the bookstores here in the U.S. My problem will be the conversion of the measurements.

[The Dairy Queen]

Alas, I do not believe it is available in bookstores here in the U.S., at least not widely. I bought my copy from Amazon U.K. I think you can buy it from 3rd party sellers from Amazon U.S.

The conversion of the measurements is a bit of a challenge, but if you get yourself a good electric scale that converts between metric and imperial, you'll be in pretty good shape. There are a lot of resources online and even here on Chowhound for helping you do the conversions. Sometimes ingredient names will throw you off, too. Rocket for arugula, courgettes for zucchini, that sort of thing, but, again, lots of people from chowhound having been cooking from these books and can help.

When cooking from these books, I go through and work up all of the measurements, then pencil them in my book so I don't have to do it more than once.

~TDQ

[jen kalb]

minor point, Americans dont measure based volumes on the Imperial system - the American customary units are slightly different Im no expert just wouldnt refer to our system as Imperial. If Ottolenghi is being republishes with Imperial conversions that will be more confusing to Americans than the current metric, which is easy enuf to measure with a scale and a metric-scaled liquid measure.

[buttertart]

That is right, Imperial pint being 20 oz and so forth. Another measuring annoyance (which isn't too bad because cup measures are given as well) is the Canadian Living practice of giving measurements for flour etc in mL. V annoying!

[The Dairy Queen]

Thanks for the clarification jen. So, if it's not called imperial, what is the American measuring system called?

~TDQ

[Gio]

I believe it's called simply United State measurements. I may be wrong.
http://library.ndsu.edu/grhc/recipes/...

[buttertart]

Made the corn polenta with eggplant sauce from "Plenty" to go with a Marcella chicken on Saturday. Eggplant is simple, cubed and browned in oil (I put it in the microwave to precook to save time and make it less absorbent of the oil), tomato purée, fresh tomatoes, white wine, water, and fresh oregano, salt, simmered a bit. For the polenta you cut kernels off fresh corn, cook it in water for 12 mins, purée it in the fp, put it back in the water (I just used a bit of the water, there was an awful lot of water), add butter and feta, and cook it down to mashed potato consistency. Serve it with the sauce. Very good, the eggplant was eaten up but a lot of the corn is left (I was afraid it might seem too creamed-cornish, a nightmare vegetable of our childhoods, but it didn't) - may make a corn souffé or pudding with it.

[roxlet]

I have been dying to make this recipe. My husband is not a fan of eggplant, and I was wondering if the corn polenta was good enough to stand on its own.

[buttertart]

If you love corn it definitely is.

[roxlet]

I made the corn polenta with the eggplant ragu tonight since my husband is out of town (he has a slight allergy to eggplant). As my son said, "You're 5 for 5 with that book, Mom." It was very delicious. My corn took a bit longer to thicken up than I thought it would and I had to crank up the heat a bit, but it came together in the end and was so good.

[The Dairy Queen]

5 for 5! Awesome! Hard to argue with success.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

I figured you'd like it. The eggplant topping was also good cold, the little of it that was left. I found I had much too much liquid when the corn was initially boiled and threw some of it out. The corn never got polenta-thick, but it was good nonetheless. (That was the same day as I made my first St-Honoré along with a number of other dishes for the dinner party so when it came to the corn cooking I was a bit frazzled.)

[roxlet]

I can imagine with that menu!

[buttertart]

Thank goodness I didn't try to make the quail thing I had been planning.

[oakjoan]

I made the corn polenta with eggplant last night and it was a great hit. My husband hates polenta so I was a bit wary of trying this recipe. I needn't have worried. He loved it.

I loved the bland sweetness of the corn polenta mixed with the spiciness and richness of the eggplant/tomato stew. I'll be making this again. I used corn I bought at Berkeley Bowl and found in a section they have where almost-over-the-top-ripe starting to go bad vegs are sold. 4 big ears were packed together and worked out just fine.

[pikawicca]

Kisir, pg. 239 This is a great dip (use tender lettuce leaves as scoops), or as a condiment for meat, fish, etc.

2 onions, finely chopped
90 ml EVOO, plus more to finish
2 T tomato puree
4 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
120 ml water
400g medium bulgar
1 1/2 t. pomegranate molasses
1 T. lemon juice
6 T. chopped parsley
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, minced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t. ground cumin
seeds from 1 pomegranate
some shredded mint
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes, then add the water and bring to a boil. Stir in the bulgar and turn off the heat.

Add molasses, lemon juice, parsley, green onions, jalapeno, garlic, cumin, and some s&p. Stir it around and let it cool to room temp. Taste again and adjust seasoning.

Spread the Kisir on a serving platter and ruffle it with the back of a spoon. Drizzle on some EVOO. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, mint, and green onion.

This is a very tasty, unusual, and authentic dish.

[roxlet]

Tonight I made the cucumber salad as one of the go withs for a hot smoked salmon. First you put coarse salt and ginger in a mortar and grind until it is well mixed but not a paste. Then you add some garlic and do the same. Meanwhile, you soak thinly sliced red onion in a mixture of rice vinegar, oil (I used peanut) and some sesame oil. After about an hour, you add the paste mixture and the cucumbers that have been sliced on the bias. Chopped cilantro is added as well as sesame seeds.

This was really delicious and a wonderful accompaniment to the salmon. And perfect for a hot day since it required no oven lighting. I will definitely make this again, though my husband thought the cucumbers should be sliced more thinly. I felt that the cucumbers gave off a lot of liquid, so next time I might salt and drain them first, which would likely intensify the flavors of the salad.

[Gio]

Roxlet, I made that salad last week! We loved it. I agree with your husband, too thick.
I had to omit the sesame seeds, however. Nevertheless, it was delicious.

[roxlet]

Yes, I omitted the sesame seeds too since it turned out we didn't have any. How thinly would you slice the cucumbers? My husband suggested ribbons, but I think that would be too thin.

[buttertart]

I'm planning to try this, have a surfeit of cukes.

[Gio]

Hah... somewhere between thick and ribbons. Seriously, when I make this again I'll slice the cucumbers just a little more than an 3/4" on the diagonal. I cut mine way to thick. Also, when I peel cucumbers I blot them with a paper towel, then when I deseed I lay the scopped out side down on a paper towel , blot and leave upside down while I prepare the rest of the recipe. ( I compost my white paper towels.)

[oakjoan]

I've now made Tamara's Ratatouille (p. 20 of the pamphlet) and it was really great. I only made it because I had lots of the ingredients and wanted to use them before they started to turn.

I usually think ratat is just okay and wouldn't have thought to make it but for the fact that it was an Ottolenghi recipe. Glad I did.

The ingredients include a fresh, sliced green chilli, green beans, some butternut squash, a small parsnip, and a small diced potato, in addition to the usual ratatouille ingreds like eggplant, onions, garlic.

What a delicious dish! I don't think I've ever said that about ratatouille before. They used to feed it to us for lunch almost every day when I was at school in France...that and a small, bland cheese. Can't remember anything else. Wish Yotam had been in the kitchen then.

PS: What happened to Sami (sp?)

[Gio]

<"PS: What happened to Sami">

OJ, I read on the Darina Allen website that he and Yotam are scheduled to give a cooking class at the Ballymaloe cookery school on 19 July. Shall we go?
http://www.cookingisfun.ie/pages/cour...

[JaneEYB]

Why don't we just go for a week and do the Jean Pierre Moulle and Skye Gyngell sessions as well? We can dream.

[Gio]

Oh gosh... wouldn't I Love to go!! The setting looks marvelous.

[Caitlin McGrath]

Plenty is based on the Guardian column, which Ottolenghi writes on his own. He certainly thanks Sami Tamimi in the acknowledgements, so I don't think there's any problem.

[mirage]

This really was very good - thank you for pointing it out. I didn't have parsnip, but otherwise made it as directed. And I wouldn't have made it without your review, so thank you!

[junglekitte]

I made the castelluccio lentil salad on page 222 today. delicious! the only issue i had was the oven roasted tomatoes took much longer to get to the correct stage than he suggested. maybe my tomatoes were larger than his because i cooked mine at least double the amount of time (and raised the temp in the oven after a while).

still yummy! would be excellent with feta or goat's cheese also

[The Dairy Queen]

black pepper tofu (page 44)

I've now christened my lovely WHITE book with a spatter of dark soy sauce, so now it's officially mine. Anyway, after much anticipation and drooling over the photo in the book, I finally tried this recipe. I cut the recipe in half and made a few modifications for ingredient availability (too lazy to leave the house. I wanted to use what I had in my pantry): I used red onion instead of shallots; i uses molasses thinned with a little vegetable stock instead of the kecap manis; I used regular granulated sugar instead of superfine (caster) sugar. And I already had a bunch of spring onions cut into small than 3cm segments, so, I just used the ones I had. Also, I served it over quinoa instead of rice.

Holy moly, i could barely choke down this dish--too incredibly black peppery/spicy hot. I usually don't mind spicy/hot, but I could not tolerate this. I think my husband and I each had three cups of milk with dinner. Part of me says, well, it calls for a ton of black pepper, what did you expect? The other part of me hoped that there was going to be something magical about the combo of ingredients/preparation that was going to made it all okay. It was very not okay.

I don't know if this is how the recipe is supposed to be (he does say it's spicy hot); or if it's one of the deliberate changes I made (the only change I really think was significant was the molasses instead of the kepap manis, but I can also see that the substitutions I made for shallots/kepap manis/caster sugar could have accumulated in such a way that I knocked the balance of "sweet" off); or if I messed up somehow in my proportions when converting to metric or halving, but I just found the taste of the black pepper too off-putting and overwhelming.

Corn flour (in which he has you dredge the tofu cubes) is just corn starch, right?

My husband, one the other hand, loved it. He seriously went back for seconds. He's also committed to eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow because I told him I just can't.

Ottolenghi says you can pull back on the quantity of pepper if you find it too spicy, so, I think I will try it at least one more time without any substitutions, but I don't think this is going to go into regular rotation Chez TDQ.

I didn't take any photos, but, except for the size of the spring onions, it looked pretty much just like the photo in the book.

Thankfully I have enough love for and confidence in Ottolenghi's recipes to not let this one disappointment, perhaps of my own making, discourage me from trying more recipes from the book.

Also, this recipe calls for quite a bit of oil (frying the tofu cubes) and butter (frying the vegetables). One of the reasons I eat tofu is because it's lower in calories. But, in this preparation, it's pretty caloric. I was afraid to tweak the proportion of fat, though, after the other subs I made, and I'm glad I didn't.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

Interesting. I thought that looked like a hell of a lot of black pepper in the recipe too (haven't made the dish - and know what you mean about thinking some cooking magic might take place). I very much doubt that your substitutions skewed the result, other than kecap manis having soy in it as well as molasses or palm sugar, they are as close to 1 for 1 as I can imagine. I also know what you mean about the fat, quite daunting - I prefer tofu not fried myself, might try this with extra-firm and not fry it. Hmm...

[The Dairy Queen]

I was thinking the same thing, about not frying the tofu on my next round. I didn't really find much advantage in frying the tofu. It was a little crispy, sure, but it you move the tofu around too much, the cornstarch slides off anyway... You really have to let the tofu sit in the pan a bit before stirring it if you want the cornstarch crust to stay on.

And, really, the green onions, since you add them at the last minute, seem to provide more "crisp" texture than the fried tofu does.

~TDQ

[buttertart]

I don't like what the frying does to the texture of the tofu inside the crust. It's just me, M loves it any way.

[jen kalb]

maybe this recipe will work with the puffy fried tofu I buy in chinatown
will give it a try.

[buttertart]

That's what I would use too - IF I liked it!

[BigSal]

For those who don't mind the texture of fried tofu, one might try substituting atsu age (thick deep fried tofu). There is a product that is ready made by House Foods.http://www.house-foods.com/Tofu/produ... Each serving only has 5 grams of fat. It may provide the necessary texture for the dish, but not the extra calories and fat.

[Gio]

For future reference TDQ... caster sugar is simply finely ground granulated sugar. Just whirr your GS in a mini-food processor.

[relizabeth]

I made a variation on this the other evening to great success. I like the crust from corn starch/flour dredged tofu. I usually just stick tofu under the grill/broiler so it was a pleasant surprise. I also did not add that much black pepper; I couldnt be bothered to get the pepper corns out of the grinder to crush, and so I ground in a bit more than usual. I also stir fried some zucchini and cabbage, tossed the tofu in at the last minute and added the sauce. I used regular onions instead of shallots. I had hoped for leftovers, but my husband inhaled it.

[roxlet]

Thanks for posting the Guardian link, gg. I had forgotten that so many of the recipes were there. I also found one that I don't believe was in the book, and I made it today. It is his recipe for caponata, and for once I found every single one of the ingredients. It is absolutely delicious, and I recommend the recipe highly if you are a fan of caponata. I made it to serve with some lamb chops tonight, but I have to say that I am having a hard time not eating it now!

[oakjoan]

Friday I made the Puy Lentil Gallettes. They were spectacular and quite easy. The recipe is on p. 30 of the mini-pamphletesque intro cookbook I got from Greedy Girl. I don't know the page number in the actual book since I've promised myself I would NOT buy any more cookbooks for a while.

This was just fantastic. We had people for dinner last night and I put a bowl of what was left of the lentil mixture on the table (sans gallettes). People wolfed it down.

It's pretty simple - lentils and 2 bay leaves are cooked until done. Meanwhile, , cumin and coriander seeds are toasted and ground. Then a medium chopped onion is sauteed in 1 tbsp of olive oil along with the ground spices and 2 crushed garlic cloves. Lentils and onion mix are stirred together and, after they've cooled, 250 grams of Greek yoghurt is added, along with some 50 g chopped spinach, 3 tpsp chopped cilantro; and 3 tbsp of chopped mint, juice of one lemon remaining olive oil (4 tbsp) and set aside.

He says to use "the best quality puff pastry....I used the cheapest (Pepperidge Farms). You can buy them frozen already made into vol-au-vent shapes so they just need to be baked.

After the puff pastry shells have cooled, the lentil mixture is spooned into the shells. He says to finish with a dribble of olive oil, but I didn't have any good stuff and so left it off.

Absolutely delicious and very easy to make. It also looks tres chic.

[rln]

Oakjoan, was this dish substantial enough as a main dish, entree? Thanks! I'm trying to figure out an entree "main" type dish--- everything I want to try to cook seems more a side or appetizer. Thanks!

[greedygirl]

Multi-vegetable paiella

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyl...

A vegetarian friend came for lunch today , so I made this and it was pretty easy and delicious. I did have a problem with the rice though. I made it in a pretty large paella pan, which I think was too big for the amount of ingredients, so some of the rice was a little undercooked. Next time I'd use a large frying pan.

I loved the combination of veggies though - fennel, peppers, broad beans, artichokes, cherry tomatoes. Yum. i forgot the olives though. No matter - my friend raved.

[Caitlin McGrath]

Multi-vegetable paella, p. 80

I made a few minor substitutions, based on what was on hand. Instead of a Spanish rice, I used carnaroli; instead of the red and yellow bell peppers, I used a jar of roasted piquillo peppers (great price on these at Trader Joe's); instead of broad beans, I used frozen shelled edamame; and instead of jarred grilled artichokes, I used a bag of frozen hearts. I made it in a 12-inch skillet. I added the edamame after sautéing the rice, as they were straight from the freezer, and added the peppers for the last 10 minutes along with the tomatoes and artichoke hearts. I didn't use the foil for the last 10 minutes, as I have a glass lid with a good fit for my skillet. The timing given worked perfectly for me.

This is both delicious and beautiful, and has lots of flavor from the saffron, smoked paprika, sherry, and kalamata olives, along with the vegetables (the piquillo peppers were very nice here). Very worthy of a special meal where you want a vegetarian main dish. He says it serves two generously, I say three. I served it with a little salad of field greens and navel orange, dressed with olive oil and sherry vinegar.

[roxlet]

Green Couscous
I thought that this recipe was really delicious, despite the fact that I could not find a couple of the ingredients. First, you soak some couscous in hot water, and fry a thinly sliced onion until soft adding 1/4 tsp of cumin and 1/2 tsp of salt. You stir this into the fluffed couscous along with three thinly sliced green onions. About 1/2 c of shelled pistachios are toasted and chopped and added. I could not find rocket in the market today, so I omitted that. You then make an herb paste of parsley, cilantro, dill, tarragon, mint and lemon juice, and then mix with the couscous. I couldn't find tarragon or dill, but the resulting flavors were very fresh, as was the whole mixture. I could eat an entire bowl of this, it was that good and a lot like my favorite tabbouli, though less lemony and distinctly parsley-ish. I could see putting finely chopped tomatoes in this too.

[bushwickgirl]

How did you make the herb paste, pureed or just minced together?

[roxlet]

I have a stick blender and I put all the herbs in the jar with the lemon juice and pressed 'go.' It was a paste. The recipe says to put the ingredients in and blender, but I don't have one of those, and I think this actually works better for this application.

[bushwickgirl]

Ok, great, thanks!

[karykat]

This sounds sensational. Is it served warm or cold? I've been making a lemony couscous salad with garbonzo beans, vegies, lemon juice and zest and lots of chives and it's become a summer staple for us.

This sounds like a really good variant. And we have lots of herbs to use in our garden. Can I prevail on you for the proportions?

[roxlet]

I will have to call on my fellow Ottolenghi lovers to help out here. I had copied this recipe from the book, sent the book home with my DH, and now the piece of paper where I had the recipes written has gone missing.

BTW, I served this room temp. I don't think you'd want to serve it hot, but it was very good cold when I finished it the next day.

[LulusMom]

That sounds incredible.

[Caitlin McGrath]

Green Couscous

I also thought this was really nice. I had everything but the green chile and the dill - no one had dill, for some reason! So, couscous, onion, cumin, salt, scallions, the herb paste of parsley, cilantro, mint, tarragon (dill), and olive oil, and I used pine nuts instead of pistachios because I had them on hand. I added them to the skillet with the onion for the last couple of minutes, to toast them. I also stirred some crumbled feta into it all, as he suggests in the headnote.

roxlet's report made me run to look at the recipe in the book just now, thinking, "how could have forgotten lemon juice?" In fact, there is no lemon juice in the recipe, but I think it would be an excellent addition, and will add a bit next time. I'll make sure I have the fresh green chile called for, too, as I think the acid and spiciness will be welcome.

[roxlet]

I made it again the other night, and I thought that it was delicious the 2nd time around too. This time I had dill, but I did not think that it made a notable difference. I liked the arugula, though, which made it more substantially salad-y. I know I said lemon the first time around, but I can't remember if I added it or not. I believe I meant to say olive oil, which I didn't mention. I definitely didn't add lemon the second time. The first time, it was a recipe I copied from the book, so maybe I made a mistake. This time I used whole wheat couscous, which worked well with this.

[Caitlin McGrath]

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the arugula in my post above. I liked the arugula in it, too. I used little baby "wild" arugula (with the serrate leaves), which I bought in bulk from a local store that has a great variety of (cheap!) bulk organic baby greens.

[oakjoan]

And where, pray tell, is this store? And what is its name?

I got some of that "wild" arugula yesterday at the Bowl but it was something like $4.95/lb. That's not much when you realize that a pound of arugula would be about 6 plastic bags full.

[Caitlin McGrath]

Oh, you must know I was talking about the Bowl, OJ. Really, when you consider that other markets charge upwards of $7/lb for baby greens, even non-organic ones, Berk Bowl's $4.50 or so for a whole variety is cheap given, as you say, the volume per pound. What amazes me is that 15 years ago, at the original location, they were charging I think $4, and I'm not sure it was organic, and the price has barely appreciated.

[jen kalb]

in some of Ottolenghi's recipes I think he overdoes on the herb combos - the many herbs sort of cancel each other out - Im gong to be experimenting with different assortments a bit.

ditto on the arugula livening up these salads a lot - surprisingly,the little wild kind I use ( a great garden weed as well as available in those boxes, as Caitlin notes) doesnt disintegrate if a salad sits in the frig for a few days.

[roxlet]

I made this again on Saturday, but this time I added a little lemon. I feel it benefited from the acid, and I would definitely add it again.

[chowsd]

hi roxlet,
this sounds delicious! wonddering if you could be more specific about the amounts of all ingredients - i want to make it large for 12 people so want to get the proportions correct. thanks!

[chowsd]

ah - just found it online here - excited to try:

http://www.foodista.com/post/NGYRYKPD...

[greedygirl]

He means red Belgian endive, which I've actually never seen! I imagine radicchio is a good substitute.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl...

[roxlet]

Thanks gg! I don't believe that I have ever seen that in the market -- even in NY. I would just substitute regular green endive I guess. As you can imagine with beets, everything just turns red anyway!

[bushwickgirl]

Here's a photo of red Belgian endive, which looks quite similar to Treviso variety of radicchio, and is actually related to radicchio, as a member of the chicory family. Radicchio is a bit more bitter than endive, imo and I would sub the white endive for the red. I've not seen it in NY either:

Red Belgian endive and also see gg's photo link above:

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:mEO860k7TiwivM:http://www.recipetips.com/images/glossary/e/endive_belgian_red.jpg

Treviso:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:M-...

[buttertart]

Trader Joe's in Brooklyn at least has had a package of 2 white with1 red endive recently, and I would have expected them to have it at Fairway?

[roxlet]

Before I sent my husband home with PLENTY, I copied out a few recipes that have ingredients that I can get in Cairo. It is a pretty small number of recipes, which is why I sent the book back to NY. Tonight I made the Beetroot, Orange and Olive salad. It was absolutely delicious even without the red endive (I assume he means radicchio) and the oil cured olives. All I could find were kalamata olives, so I used those. However, I can imagine the salty/bitter taste kick that those olives would add. I served it with a simple grilled veal chop (which my husband brought from NY frozen in his suitcase along with two racks of BBQ ribs and some prime beef -- and it stayed frozen!) . My son declared the salad 'very refreshing,' and it was really one of his first exposures to beets. I look forward to making this again when I can get the olives and the radicchio. I think the bitter tastes would further enhance this delicious dish.

[jen kalb]

thats interesting that you cant find the oil cured olives in Egypt - is there any place or market in Cairo where moroccan stuff is available?

[roxlet]

I haven't seen a market for Moroccan stuff. There is a little market across the street from where I live and they have barrels of olives -- mostly Kalamata type, but also barrels of sliced green olives. I have to say that these don't look that appetizing, and with the Egyptian penchant for dishing everything into flimsy plastic bags, I haven't been tempted to try these. But I have been longing for oil cured olives and have not seen any. Next week I will be in Italy for 4 days (oh bliss!) and maybe I will bring some back. There's a great bit in Justine, the first book of the Alexandrian Quartet where the narrator spends all the money he has just made for giving a lecture on a tin of olives, being suddenly acutely aware of being on the "wrong side" of the Mediterranean. I feel that way a little.

[buttertart]

That is strange (no oil-cured). Isn't it Lawrence Durrell who said olives had a taste as old as water? Love that line.

[roxlet]

Great line! I don't know if it was Lawrence Durrell or not. I reread Justine when I went to Alex for the first time, and I have to say that I did not love it as much as I did when I first read it in college. I loved the wrong side of the Mediterranean line though, because it's how I feel here.

[buttertart]

It's one of the novels (trilogies) on my one of these days list!

[roxlet]

Well, I certainly think that they are worth reading, but it's actually a quartet, not a trilogy. The first three books tell the same story from three different characters' perspectives, and the fourth is a progression, I think Durrell termed it -- what happened afterwards.

[buttertart]

Oops sorry, of course, the Alexandria Quartet. Silly me!